16 year old beaten by classmates

They showed a clip of this on Fox & Friends this morning. A 16 year old girl was lured to a "friends" house, where she was attacked by 6 other girls while yet another one filmed the attack.

The girl was hospitalized with a concussion. Why in the world would we want to homeschool our kids again?


POLK COUNTY, Fla. -- Video was released late Monday afternoon showing a brutal beating at the hands of a gang of teenage girls. Their motivation for the attack was allegedly so they could post the video on YouTube and MySpace.

The victim reported the attack after she was beaten so badly she had to be treated at the hospital. That's when the sheriff's office started looking into it and learned about the video.

The sheriff calls it shocking, saying he's never seen anything like it. It was a vicious attack all captured on home video inside a Polk County home.

When 16-year-old Victoria Lindsay arrived at her friend's house where she had been staying, six girls were waiting. Immediately, they started yelling and one girl began pummeling the victim.

On the video, the girls can be heard encouraging the fight in the background, even taunting Lindsay to fight back, all while one of them held the camera. The victim's family has said it was an elaborate plot to injure and embarrass Victoria Lindsay. Lindsay's parents couldn't believe their daughter had to endure the attack.

"That's my Tori. Don't do that to my Tori," said the victim's mother.

The 16-year-old suffered a concussion, eye injuries and several bruises. During the attack, two others were outside keeping watch according to the sheriff's office.

In fact, the sheriff said, Lindsay was lured into the home for the sole purpose of capturing and posting the video on the Internet. According to the sheriff's office arrest affidavit, Lindsay told deputies they "were going to post the beating on MySpace and YouTube."

Instead, it's the sheriff's office that ended up releasing it to the media and now all eight suspects accused of making it happen are charged with very serious crimes. All suspects face charges for false imprisonment and battery. Three of them were charged with kidnapping because, the sheriff's office said, they forced Lindsay into a car and drove her to another location after the beating.

The suspects were identified as 17-year-old Mercades Nichols, 17-year-old Brittini Hardcastle, 14-year-old April Cooper, 16-year-old Cara Murphy, 17-year-old Britney Mayes and 15-year-old Kayla Hassell. Zachary Ashley, 17, and Stephen Schumaker, 18, were identified by deputies as the lookouts.

"They weren't really involved, I don't know. I'm just overwhelmed by all of it. I don't know why the girls have them involved," said Debbie Shumaker, Stephen's mother.

All six of the girls attend Mulberry High School, according to the sheriff's office arrest affidavit.

 

How awful! What is this world coming to???

I only heard the end of the news last night and was half asleep, but they were saying a 6 yr old brought a gun to school. I have many thoughts on this, but what would even put this in his head to take it to school, or who were the irresponsible parents that left it within reach?! My daughter is 6 and it scares me to death to think that one of her classmates could be carrying a gun.

 

That is so sad, what is this world coming too.
Last night I watch our local news for the first time in along time. Usually don't watch it but did and they were saying they were taking a 14 year old girl off life support after she tryed to break up with her 15 year old boyfriend. He is now in jail. So, sad.

 

You know, I jsut re-read the part at the bottom where one of the boys' mom's made a comment. The boys served as a lookout, while the girls beat the other girl.

The mom's comment was that he "really wasn't involved". No? :roll:

 

Do these kids not have parents?! I can't imagine how screwed up a child would have to be to think it was ok to physically assault someone just so they could post a "cool" video on youtube! This is one of many reasons my kids will not be allowed to surf the web at their leisure. These things make me cry for the state of the family in our country.

Amy

 

Amy, I am with you. My girls can't go on you tube for anything. Unless DH or I are there. There are to many things you can see on you tube. DH was telling me he was looking on there the other day for how to make a airplane and he said there was alot of sex ones on there too. So, scary.

 

We recently started using a new filter for our computer and I love it. I made sure YouTube was blocked.

 

When I have seen kids act in such an ugly manner I have looked to the parents and have seen similar behavior in the parents. Kids learn by example, they are little sponges and are watching us when we think they aren't.

I think too that when someone act out like the girls who beat up the other girl, they are angry kids acting out and taking it out on someone they perceive to be powerless so THEY feel powerful and in control!

 

And that's how these kids think they can do anything and get away with it. Somehow parents are more into defending thier kids than seeing the wrongdoing. Sickens me. I would not defend my kids if they did something so disgusting. In fact, I would be the one to call the police on them.

So sad! Just terrible.

Now, when I was in school a girl was lured into a house where she was gang raped. I was in junior high at the time and I am 34 now...so I guess these things are not all that new.

 

This is terrible. Just terrible. I would want to hurt every last one of those witches if it was my daughter. I just dont' see how people can be so cruel to each other. There isn't anywhere you can be safe anymore. And people think we are strange because we homeschool.

And what is up with the mom of that boy trying to defend him?!?! She actually said why did these girl involve them! No sweetie your precious son involved himself. These girls didn't force the guys to help so they are just as responsible. They knew what was going to happen and did nothing to stop it.

 

The boy is 18 for Pete's sake! Isn't that legally considered and adult?

 

YES! And most of the girls were 16 and 17. I'm not sure about Florida laws but here in Texas they would stand trial as adults for that type of criminal act.

 

I saw that on the news. I hope they get charged and it sticks.

 

I think the lot of them needs to be tried as adults. It was clear by the girls laughing in the jail cell and one saying "does mean I will miss cheerleading practice", that they never expected to have to take responsibility. I think they need to be locked away for quite sometime. The victim has hearing and vision loss. That cannot be overlooked.

 

They need to be made an example of since this seems to be happening so much now a days this way if a person is wanting to post something violent online they will know there will be punishment if they do. The way I see it is they cook their own goose by doing this while if they didnt the kid would have been beat up and it would have been hard to blame them no evidence.

I dont blame the youtube or myspace for stuff like this though, if you are good watchful parents you would know to supervise on ALL computer online activitys no matter whatever age your child is lies spread just as well through gossip by the mouth with teens in school so if it didnt happen in myspace it would have happened in school just as well.

I blame the parents not teaching and watching their kids properly. I blame them for not teaching about right and wrong about working things out if you don't agree on things with another person.

Sam

 

I watched an interview last night with one of the girl's mothers. The mom seemed to (in my opinion) feel that because her daughter didn't do the actual hitting that she is innocent. She claims that her dd didn't know the other girl was going to beat up the girl.

They played some voice mail the family received the mother said in the interview and they were receiving death threats.

I am glad they arrested the 6 girls and 2 boys because they need to be poster children for what NOT to do. They need to be signs in the road that say, "Wrong Way"! :evil:

 

The story said the victim was staying at the attacker's house. I wonder why?

 

The mother that was interviewed said the girl had been having troubles at home and needed a place to stay.

 

I hope these people are charged to the fullest extent the law will allow.

 

In cases like these I feel that no only should the child have consequences for their actions but I firmly believe that the parents should be held responsible as well. If parents do their job children don't do things like this, when I was a teenage child I was always bullied but never once did I resort to violence I knew that if I got in trouble for fighting or what ever else that the consequences from my parents would be far worse that what the school could do to me and what the students did on a daily basis. I just took it and went home. If I saw someone doing something wrong and I knew it was wrong and they asked me to cover for them I politely told them that I would not be a part of this and then I told my mother, or teacher. I firmly believe that a childs actions are a direct result of how the parents raise that child If a child does drugs most likely it is because either the parent does as well, or because the parent has never sat down to tell a child that it is wrong and that the child should never do those things. My parents never had to give me a list of dos and don'ts growing up because I had good moral values and I knew right from wrong and I knew that if someone told me not to tell then it was wrong, and I knew that if I had to hide it it was wrong....My parents did their jobs and I am doing my job with my own children....and if my children ever did something like this the punishment I give them would be much worse that what anyone else could do to them and then I would be the first one to march down to the victims home and take responsibility for what my child did.....ok sorry for rambling but I get so aggravated with stuff like this...the parents basically saying who cares my child said she didn't do it and she didn't do it! Your child was there and didn't call the police or tell the girls to stop she's just as guilty as the one who did it. If I fire a gun and it hits someone do we blame the gun??? NO we blame the person holding the gun..same thing.....ok I'm done ranting now sorry.